Mains Practice Questions

Introduction: 

Public trust in institutions depends more on ethical conduct than mere legal frameworks. The 2008 financial crisis is a striking example: while laws existed to regulate banking and financial practices, unethical decisions like issuing subprime loans and manipulating risk, eroded public confidence globally.

Body: 

Primacy of Ethics Over Law: 

Laws provide a framework for action, but they cannot anticipate every situation. Ethics, on the other hand, provide a moral compass that guides a civil servant's conduct, especially in complex and unforeseen circumstances.

• Laws are reactive, while ethics are proactive. Laws often emerge in response to a problem, whereas a strong ethical foundation can prevent problems from arising in the first place.
• Laws can be circumvented, but ethics are internal. A person with low integrity can find loopholes in the law, but an ethical individual will do the right thing even when no one is watching.

Challenges Arising from Ethical Erosion in Civil Services

• Accountability: Accountability is not just legal compliance but moral responsibility towards citizens. Ethical lapses, even if not illegal, diminish public confidence.
  • Officers may formally follow rules yet fail to act transparently or respond to citizen needs. 
    • In many Indian bureaucratic scandals, even where rules exist, selective enforcement or non-implementation has led to loss of faith in institutions like municipal bodies or public distribution systems.
• Discretion: Misuse of discretion for personal or political gains reflects value erosion. When officers prioritize self-interest over public welfare, trust diminishes.
  • Allocation of government contracts or licenses without transparency, even if legally permissible, often leads to accusations of nepotism or favoritism, highlighting the gap between legality and ethical governance.
• Corruption and Value Erosion: Corruption is often seen as a breach of law, but more fundamentally, it is a moral failing. 
  • Even in the presence of anti-corruption laws like the Prevention of Corruption Act, unethical behaviour persists due to inadequate internalization of public duty.
  • The 2G spectrum or coal allocation cases show that legal loopholes alone were not the cause; the erosion of ethical standards among officials was central.

Conclusion: 

While a strong legal framework is the skeleton of good governance, ethical values are its lifeblood. To rebuild and sustain public trust, it is imperative to foster a culture of integrity and ethical conduct within the civil services, ensuring that accountability is not just a procedural formality but a deeply held value and discretion is exercised with wisdom and fairness.